This invention relates to a lancet device for performing a pricking operation, for example for use in taking skin capillary blood samples.
In the case of certain diseases such as diabetes, the patient is required to provide regular small specimens of blood, which are sent for analysis in a specially designed carrier tube. This involves pricking a finger or other suitable part of the anatomy in order to obtain the blood specimen. It is physically and psychologically difficult for many people to prick their own finger with a hand held needle, which must be sterile, and an object of the invention is to provide a simple hand-held automatic lancet device to facilitate this task.
British patent specification No. 1 599 654 dated May 26, 1978 in the name of the present applicants describes a hand held device in which a holder has a resiliently biased arm to the end of which a lancet needle is inserted. The arm is able to occupy a retracted position or an operative position in which the needle extends through a finger guard to prick a finger. The finger guard and needle both have to be separately detached from the holder after each pricking operation has been performed and replaced by a sterile guard and needle if the required sterile conditions are to be maintained between successive pricking operations. The separate replacement of the guard and needle is time consuming, and the needle is exposed to the ambient surroundings prior to pricking of the finger which may detract from the sterile conditions of the pricking operation.